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Pan Post 108
Pan Post 108 takes place on Henryios where an old archaeologist tells the story of the Alpha Reich to his grandson, Jaggy. He explains how the Alpha Reich first expanded across the Multiverse but had to banish others from their reich for the sake of harmony. When the aether ran dry, the tales tell of a future goddess who stole the aether and left behind turnips, referring to Chimaat. The Alpha Reich fell when those banished sensed weakness and returned. Further reichs rose and fell subsequently. Years later Jaggy is a young man and in a bar aboard Outpost Finagle where he meets an oracle named Azariel. They sleep together and she reads his future only to discover that he would become an incredible person in the Multiverse by the full name Jagisk Ttocks. Post Seeds of Evil In a universe far away from the NeSiverse, long ago... Jaggy: Grampa, Grampa! The little boy runs through ruined pillars, excitedly waving his arms. An old man, kneeling in dirt and brushing away soil from an orichalcum plate with a flexi-force filtration tuner, looks up from his work and smiles to see the lad. Jaggy: Grampa, look what I found! The boy holds out his pudgy hand, and the old man inspects it. It is a chip of stone, with a very worn and faded rune upon it. Jaggy: Is it treasure, Grampa? Is it magic? The old man smiles indulgently. The item, while ancient and highly valuable to archaeologists such as himself, is not magical or monetarily valuable in the least, being a replica from the olden Epsilon era, rather than a true Alpha treasure. Grampa: Jaggy, it is treasure indeed. To folks such as you and I, mementos like this give us the greatest magic of all: the story of history. Jaggy leaps up and down for joy. Jaggy: Tell me about the Alpha Reich, Grampa! The old man chuckles. Grampa: I've told you the stories hundreds of times, dear lad. Jaggy: Tell me again! Pleeeeease? The old man pretends to think. Grampa: Well...alright. Jaggy: Yippee! The old archaeologist sits upon a portable hoverchair, and lets his grandson clamber up onto his knee. Grampa: As you know, Heinyrios has long been considered the cradle of life and civilization in the multiverse of the Deep Void. Some people dispute the fact that our universe was the first universe in the Deep Void-- Jaggy: But they're wrong! Right, Grampa? The boy is petulantly patriotic to a fault, and the old man suppresses a chuckle. Grampa: Well, the one thing no one can dispute is that it was in our universe - the Heinyrios cosmos - that the first transversal expedition originated. The ancient Heinyrians, from a billion trillion eons ago, breached the veil of spacetime and launched out into the multiverse. Jaggy: And they were the founders of the Alpha Reich! Grampa: Correct, my boy. He passes over the fact that his grandson has skipped several thousand years of important history from the first expedition to the imperial founding. Grampa: And so the Alpha Reich was born. The first multiversal domain in Deep Void meta-history. Jaggy: The first and greatest multiversal dominion in Deep Void meta-history. You hafta say it right, Grampa! Grampa: Indeed, the first and greatest multiversal dominion in Deep Void meta-history. Because the heart of the Alpha Reich, here in Heinyrios, was the biggest source of pure aether known in the entire Deep Void. Jaggy: And it made all the Alpha Heinyrians strong and immortal and wise! Grampa: That it did. And it fueled all their magnificent technologies and spells, that likes of which have not been seen since. Their knowledge was vast and their culture magnificent. They invented the Everdate sytem, you know. Jaggy: But they weren't all nice, were they? Some of them wanted to hurt others and be mean. Grampa: That's right, and so the Alpha Heinyrians banished them from their Reich. They held them no ill will, but did not wish their own harmony to be disrupted. Jaggy: They should have killed those meanies. Grampa: Now, now, Jaggy. The Alpha Heinyrians were being merciful, and mercy is a very noble and heroic trait. And the exiles weren't the true reason for the Alpha Reich's downfall. Jaggy: It was the trickster goddess, wasn't it? Grampa: According to legend, yes. All we know is that the Alpha Reich's source of aether somehow ran dry, unexpectedly. The tales say that it was a trickster goddess from the future of a far away dimension, who stole away the aether and left behind piles of turnips, but of course we can't know for sure. Jaggy: Turnips are yucky! Grampa laughs. Grampa: They're healthy for you, my boy. Jaggy: Not as healthy as aether, right? Grampa: I suppose not. Turnips won't make you immortal, it's true. Jaggy: That's what I'll tell Mama next time she tries to feed me turnips! Grampa: And she'll tell you that's fine, if you can procure some aether instead. Jaggy: Awww... Grampa: Do you want me to stop telling you the story? I didn't mean to upset you. Jaggy: No, Grampa! Keep going, please! Grampa: Well, the Alpha Reich kept their loss secret for as long as they could, and carefully conserved what they had left. The decline of their multiversal empire took several more millennia. Jaggy: And then those mean ol' exiles came back. Grampa: Yes. They were barbarians now, but still strong for all that, and incredibly numerous. They were the bulk of an army of all those who feared or envied the Alpha Reich, and when they sensed weakness, they invaded, tearing down the noblest empire to ever exist. Jaggy: But then there was the Beta Reich! Grampa chuckles. This time, the boy is skipping over millions of years of history. Grampa: Yes, and more multiversal Reichs after that. Gamma, Delta, and so on. Great multiversal empires. But they all inevitably fell, for there was no aetherial nexus at their hearts; and they were not alone in having multiversal dominions anymore, for the Deep Void had filled with life and civilization. Jaggy: And none of them were as great as the Alpha Reich! Right? Grampa: That's right. The stories say that the Alpha Reich was a paradise. Those who didn't like paradise were free to leave. Jaggy: Still think they should have just killed them. Grampa rolls his eyes. Jaggy plays too many violent holo-games. Grampa: And the twelth Reich of Heinyrios fell two hundred thousand years ago. Jaggy: Think there will ever be another Reich, Grampa? Grampa: I'm sure of it, if history is anything to go by. Jaggy: But will there ever be a Reich as great as the Alpha Reich again? Grampa: Who can say? Perhaps if someone can synthesize powerful magic and technology out of turnips, then maybe... Turnips are astonishingly plentiful in the Heinyrios universe, perhaps giving credence to the old tale that the trickster goddess had left behind the plants in 'exchange' for the stolen aether. Jaggy: Gross! Grampa laughs, and hugs his grandson fondly. ***** Many years later, a young man sits at a bar in a space station, known as Outpost Finagle. He boarded the station in his home universe Heinyrios, but by now, the station has moved on, and is in some other far removed universe, where the local citizens mill aboard the station, gambling and drinking and sporting and whoring. Bartender: If you're not gonna drink that, push off and make room for paying customers. The young man, who is a grown-up Jaggy, glances at his shotglass of whiskey, which is untouched. Jaggy: Bring me another, and put it on my tab. The bartender eyes him, but does as he asks, before moving away. Jaggy eyes an alien woman sitting alone at a table, and wonders if she would find a struggling artist and ex-soldier attractive. Prophetim: She won't. Jaggy turns his head and raises his eyebrow to look at a different alien woman, who has just come up behind him to take a seat the bar next to him. Jaggy: She won't what, and how would you know? Prophetim: She won't go for you. She only likes plant-based sentient species. The alien woman picks up the second shotglass next to Jaggy and drains it. Jaggy: And how would you know that? Prophetim: The same way I know that you and I are going to have a very nice time tonight - I'm an oracle. Jaggy: Damn, that's not a bad pick-up line. Wish I'd thought of it. You don't mind if I steal it, do you? Prophetim: I am an oracle, no joke. Jaggy, from Heinyrios, who fought in a losing war under the direction of that universe's inept cosmic council, against other dimensions who tread all over it and imposed massive sanctions. Jaggy: Not bad. Either you really are an oracle, or you're a helluva information broker. Prophetim: And you don't care either way, since you think I'm hot. Jaggy: This is true. You seem to have me a disadvantage, doll. What's your name? I don't recognize your species, either. Prophetim: I am called Azariel. I am a member of an oracular angelic race called the Prophetim, who serve the God of Ordimar. Jaggy: Never heard of him. Azariel: No reason you would have. Just one god out of many in the NeSiverse. Jaggy: The NeSiverse? Azariel: That's where I boarded Outpost Finagle, three universes ago. She takes Jaggy's hand. Azariel: Let's go have some fun, shall we? Jaggy grins... Later, the pair lie in each other's arms in bed, satisfied. Azariel traces a path along Jaggy's chest with her fingers, walking her hand across his war scars. Azariel: When I have communed with someone this deeply, it grants me a very deep, but temporary, link to their fate. If you wish, I can use it to tell your future in an extremely accurate manner that you will never have the opportunity to hear from anyone else. Jaggy: Surely you already know I'm going to say yes. Azariel grins shamelessly. Azariel: I do, but it's still polite to ask. One moment. Azariel closes her eyes. When she opens them, they are blazing white, and she speaks with an otherworldy voice, as a phantom breeze blows around them. Azariel: --Universes shall rise and fall in your wake. Some shall say you are born of deepest darkness; some shall say you herald purest light. You shall follow your ambitions and your hopes and your desires and your dreams, and in the end, a power greater than any other shall rise and last for countless eons-- Jaggy stares at her openmouthed, as her eyes return to normal, and her voice loses its otherworldly cast with a gasp. She likewise stares at him in shock. Azariel: I-- I had no idea. You-- You are one of the largest men in multiversal history! Jaggy: I will be?! I thought they were just stupid hopes that would never happen, I was embittered by the war-- Azariel gets out of bed, and dresses. Jaggy: Where are you going? Azariel: I have seen what you will become. I am not sure if I like it - or if I like it too much. I cannot stay. She turns took at him directly as she finishes dressing. Azariel: But I am glad to have known you, Jagisk Ttocks. Then she is gone. Category:Post Category:Pan Post